


EOS

by conqueringwill



Category: Ensemble Stars! (Video Game)
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Gen, Self Confidence Issues, mao is a sad boy that can’t sleep, that’s basically all that happens
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-02
Updated: 2018-08-02
Packaged: 2019-06-20 17:42:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 677
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15539559
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/conqueringwill/pseuds/conqueringwill
Summary: “The night is long that never finds the day.”Mao just can’t seem to fall asleep. Unfortunately, this leads his mind to wander...





	EOS

**Author's Note:**

> inspired by ginkiha’s EOS: https://soundcloud.com/ginkiha/eos
> 
> also loosely inspired by the enstarsg community, but there are no direct references to the story! you can read this without having read the story
> 
> i rambled this bitch out in the span of two hours, please enjoy

Night has fallen over Japan. The lights have gone out in the towns, even the nightlife has quieted down, and the sky’s azure hue has faded away to black.

And underneath it all, Mao Isara cannot fall asleep. Nevermind that it was now… god, what time was it? _4:37 AM_ , a cursory glance at his bedside clock told him. This didn’t happen often, but when it did, it was never a good sign.

Perhaps it was too warm in his room. It had been known to happen, especially given the heat wave that was striking the country. At times like this, when he needed to cool off, he would usually go out onto his balcony for a few minutes. It relaxed him, if only for a moment - but sometimes, that was all he needed.

Unfortunately, ten minutes later, Mao wasn’t any more relaxed than he was to begin with. Nothing he tried seemed to be helping, either. Not breathing modulation, not the glass of ice water he got from the fridge on the way there, not even the meditation techniques Hasumi had shown him.

A restless mind tends to wander, and at a time like this, such wandering can be… unfortuitous, at best. While he might deny their existence to his friends, to his family, and sometimes even to himself, ultimately, he could not avoid his own thoughts. That he was a weakling, that he wasn’t anything special, that he didn’t deserve anything he had. And when those thoughts came rushing in, there was only one place they could end up—

_Trickstar would be better off without me._

Mao tried something else, something Subaru had told him about once during their live with Switch. He turned his gaze up to the infinite abyss of the skies, pupils darting about, hunting for the stars scattered above.

At first, he moved aimlessly across the sky, star names vaguely passing through his mind. _Denebola, Arcturus, Aldebaran, Eschamali…_ all names he had heard Subaru speaking animatedly about, though he doubted he correctly identified anything he saw.

Then, despite his mental haze, one of Subaru’s rambles in particular had broken through, and, having no other ideas, he indulged it. _“Find the North Star first!”_ He began to recollect, searching for the familiar panhandle shape of Ursa Major. Not a particularly hard task, given its size.

 _“Next, there’s a constellation that looks a little like an M… M for Mao, hehe~.”_ He had a little laugh at this, remembering the silly comparison, but clearly it worked if it stuck in his head so well. Slightly to the east, he found the jagged line of stars he had spoken of. It wasn’t very bright, but its tip glowed strongly enough to be distinctive.

 _“Now here’s the tricky part, so pay suuuuper close attention, Sari!”_ This got another laugh out of Mao, a little stronger than the last. _“Start from the North Star, and follow it to the M. If you keep going, you’ll find a biiig square!”_ Alright. It was worth a try. The first few times he tried, he couldn’t find anything. But with one more look, gazing way off into the east, he found it.

A quartet of stars, arranged as the corners of a massive celestial square. _“It’s like us, Sari! You, me, Ukki, and Hokke!”_ The image made him smile, despite everything he’d been thinking about earlier that night.

Indeed, the more he thought about it, the better it made him feel. Four stars, containing within them so many more. And without any one of them, it just wouldn’t be the same. Together, they were more powerful. Brighter. More radiant than they could have ever been alone.

And finally, his mind was set at ease. Now, he could get back to bed and sleep. Returning to his bed, he checked the time once again. _5:36 AM._ Had it really been an hour? Apparently so… Perhaps he would have to take the day off tomorrow. But for now, he shut his eyes and drifted off into a peaceful rest.

**Author's Note:**

> “the darkest hour is just before the dawn”
> 
> twitter - @squishy30000


End file.
